Apocalypse not: Ringing in the Mayan new year on Dec. 21 without all that doomsday nonsense

If you don't think the world is ending in 2012, here's fun stuff to do

Where will you be when the world ends? That depends when it is. When it isn’t is Dec. 21st, 2012. “All this doomsday business, this talk about the Mayan calendar and the end of the world, that’s just Hollywood,” I heard time and again on a trip to Guatemala this summer. Despite the fact the Maya are busy debunking the end of the world myth, doomsday remains big business, as many a regional tourism board and tour operator knows. The Associated Press reports that hotel rooms are booked beyond normal capacity for this time of year in Mexico, Belize and Guatemala, the cradle of Maya civilization, with many an “end-of-the-world getaway” on offer. I asked Vancouver-based Guata-phile and founder of El Camino VolunTours Chris Buckshaw to separate the Doomsday fests and end of the world bashes from the real deal.

Can you set us straight on the meaning and importance of Dec. 21st on the Mayan calendar?
In reality, Dec. 21, 2012, represents the end of a 5,126-year cycle. This is actually the fifth such cycle in the Mayan calendar system. The sixth cycle is about to begin, and is a continuation of many cycles. In Mayan legend, man is made of corn, their main food staple. In previous cycles, man was made from different things, such as wood and earth. Those were imperfect designs, and humankind had been evolving. This year marks the end of the Men of Corn, and we wait to see what the next incarnation will be.

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It’s going to be like the first New Year’s Eve celebration in 5,000 years? How are Mayans expected to celebrate?
This is obviously a very important and momentous occasion for the Maya. Many will travel to ancient Mayan ruin sites to gather. For many of the locals, this will be a quiet time of reflection and prayer during the day. They see this as a new beginning for mankind. They will pray for the new cycle to be a better one that renews and replenishes the world. They will also be showing their appreciation. Since there are many different cultures within the Mayan people (23 different languages and belief systems), the people will mark this day in many different ways. I am expecting a more lively time in the evening, however. I will be bringing a group back to Antigua in the afternoon, where I expect there to be quite a party going on, including music, food and drink. I also expect lavish costumes, and traditional (and non-traditional) dancing going late into the night. Really, though, I am not exactly sure what to expect. This will be, after all, a true once in a lifetime experience.

To what extent do they want us to take part?
Speaking to a friend and K’aqchikel Mayan spiritual leader in the Guatemalan Highlands, he welcomes people from all cultures to join in on the celebrations by showing their appreciation and praying for the new cycle to be better and to help replenish the Earth, and wash it from the troubled times it has seen.

Where are you going to be on Dec 21? How will you celebrate?
I will be lucky enough to be at the Mayan Ruin site of Iximche, the former capital of the K’aqchikel empire in the Guatemalan highlands. I will be leading a group of “voluntourists” who are there to help build a village for orphaned and abandoned children with a Vancouver-based organization called Project Somos. On our last day of the work week, we will take the day off work to celebrate and experience the moment with the local Mayan people.

Where should we be? What places would you suggest to fully experience the event and its meaning to the Mayan people?
If you do find yourself in Guatemala, I would say the place to be would be the ancient and famous city ruins of Tikal. I imagine there will be hundreds if not thousands of people there to celebrate this day. If you are looking for something a little more out of the way, the ruins at El Mirador would be a great choice. It is a three-day hike to get there, so you wouldn’t have the numbers, but the spiritual experience would be remarkable. Really though, with so many ruin sites scattered around the country, there will be no shortage of ceremonies and parties going on!

Where else do you suggest, say in Belize? Or Mexico?
There are literally hundreds of different ancient Mayan ruin sites in Southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras, many of which have not yet been discovered. Some of the more spectacular sites are Chichen Itza, Tulum, Uxmal and Palenque in Mexico, Tikal, Yaxha and El Mirador in Guatemala, Altun Ha and Caracol in Belize, and Copan in Honduras just to name a few. Each of the sites have different settings, art and architecture. Tikal in Guatemala for example is set deep in the jungle, and if you take an early morning sunrise tour, you will hear the haunting bellows of the howler monkey as the sun comes up. This is an experience not to be missed. Other sites like Tulum in Mexico are right on the beach with the Caribbean Sea in full view. Chichen Itza also in Mexico is one of the most excavated sites and it is wide in the open and huge. A history buff could really travel from site to site around the Mayan World, and have very different experiences at each one.

Any suggestions if you can’t be in Maya country?
Well this day is also the Winter Solstice, and is a very special day even just for that, but I recommend that if you can’t be in the Mayan areas, wherever you happen to be, make sure you go outside and feel the sun if possible. Of course it may be cloudy and you may not feel the sun directly, but go out and appreciate this last sunlight of the fifth age. Welcome the sixth age, and pray (in your own way) that the new age will bring better times to our planet, and that mankind will evolve. That we will learn to take better care of the Earth and nature. That we will learn to change our destructive ways and become a peaceful and sustainable species.

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